Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,074,822 Shares of AngloGold Ashanti PLC $AU

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,684,560 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,074,822 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AngloGold Ashanti were worth $419,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in AngloGold Ashanti in the third quarter valued at $3,728,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $361,310,000 after purchasing an additional 284,017 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at $13,777,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the fourth quarter valued at $1,139,000. Finally, Sprott Inc. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.2% in the third quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 770,670 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $54,201,000 after purchasing an additional 16,828 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:AU opened at $96.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $97.58 and a 200-day moving average of $96.86. The company has a market cap of $48.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.21 and a beta of 0.60. AngloGold Ashanti PLC has a one year low of $42.62 and a one year high of $129.14.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 37.17%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.04%.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.